Can a kitten take over dominance?

As I have posted before we have Belle who is about 10-11, then we have Pickle who is 5-6 months. We have been letting them sort things out for themselves but I have noticed something. If Pickle tries to get down into Belles basement Belle will go after her, hissing and swatting but then once she even begins to relax Pickle will walk right by her and go to the basement. Should I just let them be and figure that if Belle really wants to kick her butt then she will. Pickle pretty much does whatever she wants, she has the " you're not the boss of me" attitude. Belle is overweight so I'm not sure if she just gets tired and gives up or if she doesn't REALLY care even though she puts on a show for a bit. I don't want to hurt Belle in any way by letting Pickle take over, does that make sense?

I'm not sure what to do, just totally stay out of it or discourage Pickle from being in Belles basement?????????

Joy

Let them work it out or you'll go nuts trying to keep on top of it. Things will change as time goes on anyhow, and just when you think they've settled, they change again. The cats will deal with it all.

I agree, let them work it out. Demetri at 14 weeks walked into a house of 7 adults aged 1-8 years and immediately took over. They didn't have a leader so it was smooth going.

Wonderful, thanks!

Depends on the kitten. Charlie really didn't back down much around Ling - and as he grew, he would get more dominate/brave about things. He's the dominate cat, even tho Ling would rather be - she doesn't want to totally submit

At my dad's house there were 3 female cats. Two were adults, and one was a kitten. The kitten came in at about 3 months of age, and had no trouble asserting herself although she was half the size of the other two! There were parts of the house that were shared, and parts that weren't, but after a few scuffles they learned to coexist

Chloe and Mattie are definitely having dominance issues. Chloe is 7 months old and Mattie is 1 1/2 or 2. Chloe is by far the dominant personality but she still gets a bit intimidated. It's made for an interesting past couple of months. I do try to give Mattie 'alone time' in a separate bedroom with the door shut.